At Manifest Creative Research Gallery,
ideas for exhibitions are almost an intellectual art form on their own.
The little “neighborhood gallery for the world” in East Walnut Hills has
a history of dreaming up surprising themes.

CAC exhibit examines the art and enduring impact of music videos

When I first caught wind of Spectacle: The Music Video,
opening Saturday at the Contemporary Arts Center downtown, I felt like I
was heading over to Steve’s all over again. The new exhibition explores the music video’s past and present while
considering its future through a series of artifacts, photos, immersive
environments and literally hundreds of music videos.

Jac's favorite pop culture and Internet findings of the week

Thanks
to Facebook friends with good taste, my mom's stream of animal photo chain
emails and my voracious appetite for gossip and craft blogs, I'm constantly
exposed to some of the greatest items from the far-reaching corners of the internet. Here's what I just can't get enough of this week.
"Bad
Girls"
OK,
so M.I.A.'s video for "Bad Girls" came out a couple weeks ago, and
despite looping it for hours on end since then, I cannot get enough of it. It's
one of those tunes that makes me want to dance in public even without a (few)
cocktails in my system. With a penchant for controversy, the video (filmed in
Morocco) depicts what seem to be Middle Eastern women in
traditional-yet-pimped-out garb racing cars in the desert and dancing to music
with strong, sexual, pro-femme lyrics.Though it’s been said that the political
standpoints M.I.A. makes in her music contradict her lifestyle,
or sometimes don't even make sense, the “Paper Planes” singer is the queen of juxtaposition when
it comes to her videos. It's also important to note that “Bad
Girls” comes during a time when women in Saudi Arabia are banned from driving.
So whatever her intended/implied/confusing statements may be, this video is a
pretty hot way to say “F that.”
Go here to watch her response to fans’ YouTube comments on the video.
Bonnaroo
The
mega-fest’s initial lineup was released last week, boasting headliners like Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Phish and The Beach Boys. Every year I go back and forth on my
decision to go: Can I afford the ticket plus all the cash and supplies that go
into surviving there (screw anyone who says you just need water and a sleeping
bag)? Can my poor Irish skin bear four days in the blazing sun? What if next
year’s lineup is even better? I still haven’t quite decided, but 2012’s lineup
looks good to me for less-than-obvious reasons.Ben
Folds Five — As in, the original trio reuniting. One of my all time favorite
bands. I’d die. The
Roots — I’ve been a fan of the crew since I first heard “The Seed (2.0)” when I
was in eighth grade. And their day job as house band for Late Night with Jimmy
Fallon has only solidified my love.Ludacris
— Not ashamed.Of
course there’s also this year’s #whoarethey Grammy winners, Bon Iver, Donald
Glover’s alter-ego Childish Gambino, The Shins, jam band supreme Umphrey’s
McGee and dozens more. Aziz Ansari (Parks
and Rec, Funny People) is even
confirmed to perform, though the rest of the comedy lineup is yet to be
announced. It turns out most people go to ‘roo for music, but I will nerdily
admit as a comedy fangirl, the stand-up tent was one of my favorite (and most
air-conditioned) experiences during my trip to the fest in 2010. Ansari also
appeared that year and Conan O’Brien, fresh off his firing from NBC, headlined.
Taxidermy
Art
A
friend on Facebook recently posted a link to Hi-Fructose Magazine’s blog, a page covered in creepy-cute
taxidermy art. Netherlands-based art partners (artners?) Les Deux Garçons
create whimsical pieces in which real taxidermied animals are embellished with
knick knacks, toys and lush decorative ribbons. If that weren’t enough, many
the animals are dual-headed conjoined mammals, or are transformed into unicorn-esque
creatures with crazy horns. These (ethically-obtained) animals are transformed
into their own art form that carefully walks the line between beautiful and
grotesque. Observe:
Arianna
Huffington
The
media queen came to town Feb. 22 to speak as a part of the SmartTalk
ConnectedConversations series, and boy, do I have a crush on her. She spoke (in
a sexy Greek accent, BTW) on becoming fearless in love, work and life,
providing many hilarious and interesting personal anecdotes along the way.
Advice she gave included getting more sleep, turning off that negative voice,
or “obnoxious roommate” in our heads and the importance of finding a “tribe” of
friends we can all relate to and depend on. Fun Fact: She launched The
Huffington Post in her fifties, thanks to help of a $100,000 loan from her
tribe-mate Laurie David (former wife of Seinfeld/Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Larry
David). Pretty inspirational. She ended the evening answering audience
questions with Channel 12’s Cammy Dierking, who clearly also has a bit of a
girl-crush on Huffington, and who nearly made me wet myself when she used the
phrase “That’d go over like a turd in a punch bowl.” It was truly a fun
femme-fest.
Sleigh
Bells on SNL
Despite
my undying love for Saturday Night Live, even I can’t deny the amount of
lackluster musical performances on the show. Granted, it is one of the few
“really live” shows left, details often aren’t finalized until the last minute, sound is often off and
the tiny stage isn’t ideal, but who could forget Ashlee Simpson’s
career-killing disaster on the show? This year, it’s all about hating on Indie
songstress/mannequin Lana Del Rey’s performance. Personally, I don’t think the
performance warranted such a backlash, but judge both for yourself.
And check out SNL’s hilarious response to Lana-gate (with Kristen Wigg as LDR)
here.
Thankfully,
Noise Pop duo (now touring with a third musician) Sleigh Bells killed it on last week’s episode. I wasn’t expecting
the live TV format to do them justice, but they sounded great and were
entertaining despite a nearly naked stage.

National charity to host design contest to feed the hungry

There's been some brilliant art made from some pretty bizarre mediums — hair, push pins, bullets, garbage, chewing gum. Look around downtown Cincinnati beginning next Tuesday and you'll find another unlikely art form — statues made specifically from canned goods and other non-perishable food. Expect to see five jumbo structures scattered around different locations downtown, including a giant Pac-Man and a huge bridge-like arch. Why the canned constructions? It's part of a competition called "Canstruction," an exhibit that's part of a national effort to combine the "spirit of a design contest with a way to feed the hungry." Canstruction is a national charity, and it holds the competition in more than 100 cities across the U.S. The event touts itself as a unique, engaging way to bring attention to the issue of hunger in Greater Cincinnati; the works become a free, giant art exhibit open to the public. This year marks the 15th annual food sculpture competition, and once the judging is complete, the structure's materials — all cans and non-perishable food — will benefit the Freestore Foodbank. Don't expect the works to be rinky-dink, either; the competitions is headed up by bigwigs in Cincinnati's professional architecture, engineering and design community. The sculptures are estimated to require a whopping 40,000 canned goods to complete and teams have a strict five-hour limit to build their structures. The "canstruction" race begins at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28. Once the statues are up, they'll be on display until March 18. Visit the Cincinnati Canstruction website to find out where downtown you can spot the sculptures.

Landscapes of Reflection offers Monet on an intimate scale

Monet in Giverny: Landscapes of Reflection
at the Cincinnati Art Museum is a stunning collection of 12 works —
many painted after 1910 — that offers something for art lovers of all
stripes. Your granny will be happy to gaze at utterly inoffensive
subject matter, while aficionados can sink their teeth into the artist’s
assertive paint handling.

The Love Boat (abandoned) and Out of the Gray demonstrate quirky interest in the artist’s craft

Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center’s latest exhibition is the work of Travis Townsend in The Love Boat (abandoned), which is presented in conjunction with Out of the Gray, a group showing of works made using graphite.

Beyond Emancipation traces black history through nine artists’ work

As the nation observes Black History Month, Beyond Emancipation
acknowledges that sometimes it’s tough to keep hope alive. But, even
more, the show celebrates the fact that hope has always been there and
always will be.

These two museums don’t just have
wonderful art — they also both have fantastic cafés. I recently
undertook a mission to dine at both: CAM’s Terrace Café and the Lindner
Family Café at the Taft Museum. I decided that I wouldn’t just eat at
the cafés — I would also see what treasures the museums had to offer.

City Council reinstates individual artist grants

Good news from City Hall? Yes, actually.
City Council has voted to re-instate and improve a long-established
program providing grants to individual artists, which was cut for
budgetary reasons in 2009.

How ArtWorks trains the next generation of local artists

I’ve always been able to find art in Cincinnati. From seeing the paintings created by an art class at SCPA, where I’m currently a senior, to being inspired by exhibits at the Cincinnati Art Museum or the Contemporary Arts Center, it’s been fairly easy to nourish my passion for art in my hometown.